“Shit,” I said, cradling the phone. If Sidney was anything like I remembered…
Sidney hugged me and pulled a sheaf of papers from her bag. “Are you nervous?”
“Not at all, I propose to the love of my life every day.”
She smirked and tapped me on the head with the papers. “Well, let’s get to it then.”
We spread everything across my desk, and Sidney talked me through each form. I’d just about signed half of them, when Steve wandered into my office in his tux.
“Sidney!” I watched as he hugged her. “You lost all of your freckles, and what happened to all of that metal you used to wear on your teeth?” Sidney and Steve saw each other on a regular basis, but this was their game. I read through my paperwork and waited for it to be over.
“Is that your way of calling me pretty?”
Steve laughed. “Will you stay for the party?”
For the first time I noticed that Sidney was wearing a dress. It looked to me like she had every intention of staying for the party. My mother must have given her a heads up.
“I am staying,” she said. “I was hoping I could get Caleb to have a drink with me before he speeds off on his steed.”
“Can’t,” I said, without looking up. “Olivia is waiting for me.”
“Caleb,” Steve said. “I need you to make some rounds before you leave. Some of these people are your clients.”
“Steve!”
I slammed my laptop closed and stared at him. “I’m proposing to my girlfriend tonight. You can’t be serious.”
“A few minutes are all I need. Just call Olivia and tell her you’re going to be late.”
“No.” I stood up and grabbed my keys.
Sidney’s head bobbed up from where she was reviewing my paperwork. “You’re going to hate me.”
I sighed. “What did you forget?”
She flushed. “I can just run back to the office and grab it. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
“What is it, Sidney? Can’t it wait until Tuesday?”
She cleared her throat. “The gate keys to the property. You won’t be able to get in.”
I folded both of my lips in and blinked at her in frustration. Calm, keep calm.
“All right. Go! Hurry!” She nodded and jumped up. I turned to Steve. “Thirty minutes, while Sidney is gone. That’s it.” He patted me on the back. I called my secretary who was already wearing her dress for the night.
“Can you call Olivia, tell her I was held up, but I’ll be there as fast as I can?”
She nodded and I went to the small closet in my office where I kept my suit jacket.I slid my arms into the sleeves, swearing under my breath. This was a bad start to what was supposed to be a huge night. Thirty minutes, that was it. Then I’d be out of here.
By the time she came back, another hour and a half had passed. I’d given up socializing and retreated to my office to wait. I called Olivia twice with no answer. She was probably furious with me.
Sidney walked briskly through the door, holding up her skirt and looking apologetic.
“Traffic, Caleb. I’m so sorry.”
I nodded and held out my hand for the key. She looked so forlorn when she dropped it in my palm that I grabbed her wrist before she could pull away.
“Sidney? What’s wrong?”
Her bottom lip quivered. She pulled away from me and walked to my desk, leaning up against the side of it.
“Can I see the ring?”
I cocked my head and resisted the urge to look at my watch. Eventually, I nodded and went to get it from the drawer. I opened the box and showed her. Her eyes grew wide.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. And then she started to cry.
I flipped the box closed and put it in my pocket. “Sidney? What is it? What’s wrong?” I gripped her shoulders, and she looked up at me with mascara running down her face.
“I’m in love with you.”
Her words rocked me. I brought my forefinger and thumb to my forehead. This wasn’t happening right now. I needed to find Olivia. I couldn’t deal with this. I didn’t want to.
“Sidney, I-”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ve lived with this for a long time. I’m just emotional because you’re getting ready to propose and all that…”
I ground my teeth and considered how to proceed. All I could see was Olivia. But, Sidney was my friend. I wasn’t in the habit of telling crying women to f**k off. Okay, I could do this quickly. I handed her a tissue and she proceeded to clean up her face.
“Sidney, look at me.”
She did.
“I’ve been lonely. All my life. I was the popular kid. I’ve always been surrounded by tons of people, but I was indescribably lonely. I didn’t know how to cure it. Until the day I saw Olivia. I saw her for the first time standing under this tree.” I laughed and rubbed my jaw, remembering. I hadn’t shaved. I should have shaved. “When I saw her, I knew she was what was missing. It’s crazy, but it’s true. I had this flash in my mind, where I saw her sitting at my kitchen table with me, her hair up in this messy bun, drinking coffee and laughing. Right then, I knew I was going to marry her.”
Sidney was looking at me with such awe I didn’t know if I was doing more harm than good. I had a brief moment when I wished Olivia looked at me like that. I had to fight her to love me. I was in a constant emotional wrestling match with her. I could be with a woman like this, who adored me. I could muster old feelings for Sidney. She was beautiful and kind. I shook my head. Wrap it up, Caleb. I told her what I knew to be true.
“When you find him, his name will course through your veins. Olivia courses through mine. She runs through my heart and my brain and my fingers and my penis.” Sidney laughed through her tears. I grinned.
“You’ll find him, Sidney. But, it’s not me. I belong to someone else.”
I hugged her. She was sitting on my desk and I patted her leg. “Go back to the party, I have to go.”
When I looked up, Olivia was standing in my doorway. I felt a rush of blood to my head. Had she heard what I’d told Sidney? Seen the ring box? I had a moment of panic where I didn’t know what to do.
She said my name. I watched Sidney hop down from the desk and walk quickly out of the room. She darted a look at Olivia over her shoulder before she closed the door.